Obama Proposes Tax Breaks for Small Businesses that Offer Health Insurance to Their Employees
14 07 08 - 14:14
Obama Borrows Page From Clinton
By JEFF ZELENY
SAN DIEGO — Senator Barack Obama on Sunday proposed offering tax breaks to small businesses as an incentive to provide health care to their employees, borrowing an idea from a former rival in the Democratic presidential race.
"I'm announcing my plan to provide real relief for small business owners crushed by rising costs, an idea championed by my friend Hillary Clinton, who's been leading the way in our battle to insure every American," Mr. Obama told the National Council of La Raza, a Latino group, at their annual conference here.
At the mention of Mrs. Clinton's name, the audience of several thousand people cheered.
The plan, which would cost $6 billion a year, would provide small businesses a refundable credit of up to 50 percent on premiums for employees.
Tucker Bounds, a spokesman for Senator John McCain, criticized Mr. Obama's health care proposal as a vague and expensive mandate, which would have "a devastating impact" on small businesses.
"This is an obvious and crude effort to spackle together a quick political fix, but it lacks specifics, lacks funding and he lacks credibility," Mr. Bounds said.
Mr. McCain is scheduled to address the conference on Monday. He and Mr. Obama have been aggressively courting Latino groups, particularly in Florida and a swath of states in the Southwest, where the populations have increased in recent years.
"Make no mistake about it," Mr. Obama said. "The Latino community holds this election in your hands."
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